Suture package



March 18, 1947.

v E. THEMAK' SUTURE PACKAGE Filed July 7, 1944 INVENTOR fah/flpa 771 M A sATTONEY Patented Mar. 18, 194' 2,417,574 SUTURE PACKAGE Edward Themak, Northport, N. Y., assignor to Davis & Geck, Incorporated, Brooklyn, N. Y., a corporation of New York Application July '7, 1944, Serial No. 543,938

1 Claim.

The present invention relates to a reel adapted to contain a suture or a ligature. While sutures are used under difierent circumstances from ligatures, the word suture will be used hereinafter, for sake of convenience, to-indicate either or both.

The principal object of the present invention is to provide a reel-suture combination, or reel, suture, tube combination which will be cheaper and more efficient than those heretofore existing.

Suture material is usually delivered to a surgeon, wound upon a reel contained in a hermetically sealed tube and which usually also contains tubing fluid such as alcohol, xylene, or the like. Many types of reels are in use, but perhaps the most prominent variety are those made ofthin strips of woodof a width considerably less than the inside diameter of the tube. These reels are objectionable because they are expensive, they have a tendency to split along their length due to grain structure, particularly if the suture happens to be wound too tightly, they require a separate label for data in regard to the suture and they have a tendency to move back and forth within the tube which often causes displacement of the suture with regard to the reel.

The reel of the present invention has all of the above mentioned advantages with none of the disadvantages heretofore experienced.

The invention contemplates a suture reel comprising a fiat blank in the form of a dihedral where at least one plane of the dihedral is notched at its end portions, thus adapting it to contain a wound suture, The invention further contemplates the combination of reel and suture where the former is in the form of a dihedral within a hermetically sealed suture tube, the width of each plane of the dihedral that is its dimension in a direction at right angles to the apex of the dihedral being such that the reel is under tension when in the tube by engagement with the inner wall thereof. This results in the reel being firmly held in a fixed position in the tube against accidental displacement with relation thereto. By using a reel of dihedral form, one plane may be used to contain data with regard to the suture and due to this construction it is not possible for the wound suture to obstruct the data from view as has been the case heretofore.

The invention further contemplates the novel construction, combination and arrangement of parts more fully hereinafter described and shown in the accompanying drawings in which:

Fig. 1 is a plan view of a reel blank of bendable material,

Fig. 2 is a perspective View of a completely formed reel according to the present invention, I

Fig. 3 is a perspective view showing the method of winding a suture on a reel,

Fig. i is a view showing the insertion of a reel and suture combination into a suture tube,

Fig. 5 is a perspective view showing a completed reel-suture-tube combination,

Fig. 6 is a view showing the method of removing the wound suture from the reel.

Referring now with particularity to the embodiments illustrated, a reel blank is shown at A comprising planes I and 2, which as shown in Fig. l, coincide. The blank may be cut from any desirable material, bendable along a crease line 3 into the form shown atB in Fig. 2. Where desired,

this flat blank A may be of paper, cardboard,

laminated or not as desired, stiffened cloth. wood heat-treated with urea or thiourea, thermoplastic mat rial, metal, glass, or the like capable of being bent and/or set into the form shown in Fig. 2, or the like. The use of these materials is particularly desirable as they do not have any particular grain, that is they do not tend to split or break along any one line as would be the case were it made of wood alone. It may be cut, died. molded, pressed or otherwise formed.

As shown in Fig. 1, notches 4 are provided to receive the convolutions of a suture 5 in the manner shown in Fig. 3.

Due to the fact that the dihedral form of the reel of this invention has added strength and resistance to collapse, the reel may be made of comparatively thin and cheap material which therefore detracts from its cost. Perhaps the most preferred material is a comparatively light paper of any desired quality suitable for the purpose.

As shown in Fig. 3, the suture should ordinarily be wound on the reel over the thumb and forefinger of the operator so as to prevent any undue tension being put on the reel proper. The reel blank may be either wound before being given its final dihedral form or after, as is desired.

Wing, or plane I, not occupied by the suture 5 may have applied thereto any desirable designation or data regarding the suture and one such type of data is shown at 6 in Fig. 5.

The suture, having been wound on the reel, is then slipped into the suture tube 3 as shown in Fig. 4, the usual tubing fluid 8 added if desired, and the open end of the tube 7 heat-sealed as is usual practice. The entire combination may then be sterilized by accepted methods.

It is desirable that the width of the wings or planes I and 2 in a direction at right angles to the apex of the dihedral be such that when the reel is placed in the tube 1, the former is under a certain amount of tension against the inner surface of the tube. This tends therefore to hold the reel with its suture against the inside of the tube and in a fixed position with relation to the tube and against accidental displacement therein.

It will be apparent from an inspection of Fig. 5

that such a combination is particularly desirable 1 in that it is impossible for the suture ever to restrict observation of the data on the wing of the reel. It will also be observed that the reel and suture may be so positioned within the tube that when the latter is broken by the surgeon along the usual scoring line 9 that a portion of the reel will project from the broken portion of the tube and may be readily grasped by the surgeon for removal.

When the reel and suture has been removed from the tube for use it only becomes necessary to break or tear off the projecting ear l0 formed by one of the notches 4, whereupon the suture may be readily removed.

Such a combination is particularly desirable in that the reel may be made of cheap and available materials, adequate strength obtained by the dihedral form even though actually made of a relatively weak material, that where the reel material is of a nature which has no particular grain there is no tendency to split in the direction of its length or otherwise, that the suture data is always observable and can not be accidentally separated from the suture to which the suture combination may be firmly held in the tube without moving in relation thereto and in a position ready to be grasped by the surgeon for removal upon fracture of the tube.

While the invention has been shown and described with particular reference to specific embodiments, yet it is to be understood that it is not to be limited thereto, but is to be construed broadly and restricted only by the scope of the claim.

What is claimed:

In combination, a hermetically sealed suture tube, a dihedral reel having a suture wound thereon in said tube, the angularity of the dihedral and the width of the planes thereof being such that the reel is held under tension against the inside of the tube, whereby the reel is firmly held in a fixed position in the tube.

EDWARD THEMAK.

REFERENCES CITED The following references are of record in the file of this patent:

UNITED STATES PATENTS Number Name Date 1,171,194 Hammond-Knowltom- Feb. 8, 1916 1,610,607 Hirsch Dec. 14, 1926 2,318,379 Davis et al May 4, 1943 2,249,289 Horine July 15, 1941 837,813 Ekberg Dec. 4, 1906 FOREIGN PATENTS Number Country Date 20,978 British Sept. 26, 1902 

